35 Years Ago
by shiroratsukari
Summary: It had been 35 years since the Earl's scenario was halted by the 14th. 35 years since he had last recorded the unfinished history of humanity's destruction. 35 years since his previous apprentice had been killed.


Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and D. Gray-man belongs to Hoshino Katsura.

**35 Years Ago **

35 years.

It had been 35 years since the Earl's scenario was halted by the 14th. 35 years since he had last recorded the unfinished history of humanity's destruction. 35 years since his previous apprentice had been killed.

Bookmen and Bookmen's apprentices must forsake their names as soon as they are chosen. It is a rule that was established to destroy the greatest tie they had to this world: their identity. Their names are discarded but not forgotten, much like the history that they are meant to record. His last apprentice went by many names; all of which Bookman could recall if he ever felt it necessary. One begotten name and 137 aliases linking to one boy who was to have already succeeded him had things gone according to plan. But that rarely happened in this turmoil driven world. That boy's name, his first name, the name his parents gifted him with, and the one he threw away, was Lavi. Hebrew for lion. A well placed name, for the boy himself was like the king of Bookmen. Charming, quick-witted, patient, tight-lipped, remarkably intelligent, clever and deadly in battle. He performed each record carefully, disappeared when necessary and attached himself to nothing save the history they were meant to record. A Bookman amongst Bookmen. Bookman would have said his then apprentice was his pride and joy had he been allowed such ties.

Their next assignment was to the Millennium Earl himself. To record the beginnings of his scenario since all the Noah had been gathered to him. Bookman had little worry about their ability to accomplish what could only be a difficult mission; they were, after all, on the side that was to destroy humanity. But his apprentice was ready and Bookman knew he was. His apprentice's 137th alias was Etan, Hebrew for "steady", because the Bookman wanted his apprentice to remember to be strong and persevere. And persevere they did. Silently they watched the Earl plan for humanity's final act. Wordlessly they watched countless deaths at the hands of the Noah. Observantly they recorded the events that unfolded before them, never interfering and never being interfered.

But things changed.

The 14th, Nea Walker, destroyed the Earl's scenario. He killed them, one by one in a maddening rampage until there remained only two: Road and the Earl. And that was when the Earl snapped. Road retreated to dreams while the Earl killed everyone he deemed took part in Nea's betrayal.

Which in his mad mind, included the young apprentice as well.

"You were watching! I know you were watching Nea! Always with Nea! It was you wasn't it?! YOU PLANTED THESE IDEAS INTO HIM!"

So the Earl killed Etan, Lavi's 137th alias, in cold blood.

35 years later, Bookman couldn't help but laugh at the irony. He was now sent to take his new apprentice to the opposite side he took his older one. And to stand as an exorcist of all things. He also couldn't help a small bit of emotion that escaped from the thought of fighting on The Order's side. Bookman knew it was against the rules to feel the way he did. But he wanted this one small form of revenge even if it meant crossing a line he himself knew he had to draw. His current apprentice truly was different from Lavi. He was loud, clumsy, impatient, a distributer of secrets, an idiot dunderhead and more often dead in battle than deadly.

And yet…

While choosing the alias his young apprentice would go by as an exorcist within the Black Order, he chose the name "Lavi". When asked, Bookman told the boy that it was "the first name that popped into his head", but his true intentions were far from that.

'This is the other side,' Bookman had thought, 'the side that will go against the side that killed you.'

So he named his new apprentice's 49th alias "Lavi" because even though Bookman wasn't supposed to feel, his blood still silently boiled against the ones that took away so much from him.

**-End-**

Thanks for reading! Suggestions, comments and critiques are more than welcome!


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